The secure tenants had claimed to exercise their right to buy; the local authority admitted their right and proposed a price which was accepted. The authority offered a partial mortgage which was accepted and by reference to which they had exercised their statutory right to elect deferred completion. The authority then notified them of its intention to demolish the property and contended that, because prior to their exercise of the right to buy it would be entitled to an order for possession on that basis, it was no longer obliged to complete the sale.
Held: The authority’s appeal was unsuccessful. Lord Justice Nourse held that in the words of s138(1) of the Act, the right to buy had been established and all matters relating to the grant and to the amount to be left outstanding or advanced on the security of the property had been agreed. Once such a right had been established and all such matters had been agreed, the tenants had become entitled under s. 138(3) to enforce completion of the sale and had thus acquired an equitable interest in the property. On any view the tenants had already exercised their right to buy and so the local authority would not remain entitled to an order for possession.
Judges:
Lord Justice Nourse
Citations:
[1990] 1 WLR 1097
Statutes:
Jurisdiction:
England and Wales
Cited by:
Cited – Martin v Medina Housing Association Ltd CA 31-Mar-2006
The former tenant had set out to buy the council house, but had written to say that she did not intend to go ahead. Her son who had taken over the tenancy after her death now sought, twelve years later, to require the authority to proceed at that . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.
Housing, Local Government
Updated: 05 June 2022; Ref: scu.242432